BPA Featured Article

Social Listening: It's More Important Than You Think

It’s pretty much a no-brainer these days when it comes to customer satisfaction that listening to what customers want and need will get you the best results. By understanding and listening to them, it’s easier to target offerings, remain sympathetic to their needs and deliver care that will keep them coming back.

Today though, we’ve moved away from just customers who call you on the phone when they have a question or are upset, or walk over to the store to meet with a care agent in person. Social and online communications has changed the customer service landscape profoundly. More and more people are using this channel to reach out to companies, to conduct all of their communications and transactions and even to spread the word about their experiences with the companies they are doing business with.

Those brands and businesses not careful to address and prepare to meet these needs will fall behind.

A new tactic is popping up called ‘Social Listening’ and it has potential to really help companies get a better feel for their customer needs as well as find ways to deliver on them - before problems ever arise.

A recent blog post by freelancer Brooke Cade looks at the ways these programs can even help grow income.

With social listening, companies are monitoring the conversations that are happening on the digital channel – things like blogs and reviews are important pieces of information because they include clues on what customers are saying about you online.

According to Cade, encouraging customers to leave feedback about their experience with your company can help you to improve your offerings. Even if those customers leave negative reviews – there is an opportunity for someone to get on the phone and speak with the customer about what happened and what can be done to improve in the future.

If you want this, but don’t have the extra time and staff to dedicate to monitoring the digital channels, a good option is to use a remote monitoring company. These are typically staffed with specialists and experts who are trained on what to look for and what important information should be the takeaway from each communication.

BPA Quality now offers Social Media Monitoring that helps organizations measure their online presence. It is able to do so by gathering feedback and then providing objective measures of satisfaction. As we move into a fully online world, the need to mange online customer care will become undeniable.